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Taiwan EPA consulted on March 29 the draft revisions to the Categories and Management of Handling for Concerned Chemical Substances Regulation, a subsidiary regulation under the Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances Control Act (TCCSCA). As proposed, ammonium nitrate and hydrogen fluoride will be designated as the second and third concerned chemicals, following the previous designation of nitrous oxide as the first concerned chemical on October 30, 2020 (ChemLinked news). It is now subject to a period of public consultation lasting 60 days.
Ammonium nitrate is primarily used in fertilizers, as a precursor for blasting explosives, and in other industrial applications such as the generation of nitrous oxide gas. The 2020 devastating explosion in Beirut is a wake-up call on the dangers of ammonium nitrate. Hydrogen fluoride is highly irritating and corrosive, which has caused a number of casualties in recent years. Thus, Taiwan plans to tighten the control of these two hazardous substances as concerned chemicals.
The concerned chemical substances are those aside from Class 1~4 toxic chemical substances, that to pollute the environment or are a suspected threat to human health based on substance characteristics or public consumer issues of domestic or foreign concern.
The details of the two substances are specified as below.
English name | CAS Number | Control concentration standard w/w% | Controlled handling of chemical substances of concern | As being hazardous | Graded handling quantity (Kg) | Regular reporting frequency |
Ammonium nitrate | 6484-52-2 | 80 | Production, import, sale, transport, use and storage | Yes | 50,000 | Monthly |
Hydrogen fluoride | 7664-39-3 | 10 | Production, import, sale, transport, use, storage and disposal | Yes | 300 | Monthly |
For concerned chemical substances, the handlers will have to obtain approval prior to manufacture, import, sale, transport, use, storage, etc., and report monthly online for their handlings. Transitional measures have been proposed for these two chemical substances in terms of handling quantity recording, emergency response, labelling and SDS requirements, personnel management and pre-approval, etc.
However, ammonium nitrate used by military or academic institutions for military applications, experimentation, R&D, education and testing can be exempt from regulation, so does hydrogen fluoride used by military institutions for military applications.
